STOCKTON - Councilman Michael Tubbs took Stockton's troubles to the White House this week in a meeting with key officials in President Barack Obama's administration.

Tubbs, 22, went asking what exactly it takes a community to qualify for one of 20 so-called Promise Zones the president mentioned in his most recent State of the Union address.

Stockton should be on that list, Tubbs told officials.

He met Tuesday with White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, Director of Domestic Policy Council Cecilia Munoz, Director of Intergovernmenatl Affairs David Agnew and Deputy Assistant to the President Racquel Russell.

"I've worked with these leaders," said Tubbs, who graduated last year from Stanford University and served as a summer intern at the White House. "I know them, and I wanted them to put a face to the challenges our city faces."

The city did not pay for Tubbs' travel. Tubbs attended a conference in Washington, D.C., for Colin Powell's America's Promise Alliance, which paid for Tubbs' travel.

Tubbs said he took advantage of being there for the White House meeting.

It followed last month's speech in which Obama said his administration would partner with America's 20 "hardest-hit towns" to get them "back on their feet" in a plan that would include tax credits to businesses that hire and invest.

Obama has proposed similar initiatives in past years that Congress did not support. Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, also contacted the Obama administration, pushing that Stockton be put on the list of 20 distressed communities.

Tubbs said Stockton has suffered too long to simply wait for the White House to unveil its plans, and that's why he went in person.

"We need to be as vocal as possible and make sure the Obama administration fully understands our dynamic challenges," Tubbs said. "I wanted to hear firsthand from decision makers what they were looking for."

Tubbs this weekend is also a panelist at Harvard University in the Harvard Black Law Students Association spring conference, addressing crime and urban development.